From Intrinsic Qualities to Bikini Bodies
The quote from a woman being interviewed on the construction of an agricultural-themed amusement park highlighted the sense of pride that many Californians feel. She says that, “Someone who has been here as long as I have has mixed feelings.” Didion uses this quote ironically, informing us that the woman has “been here” for fifteen years. “Discussion of how California has ‘changed’, then, tends locally to define the more ideal California as that which existed at whatever past point the speaker first saw it.” In fact, no one knows what the “ideal” California is—the term is purely subjective, and what may be ideal to one may be corrupted to another. This is one more of the many contradictions that characterize the California legacy. In my experience, saying that you are from “California” always elicits a reaction of interest, and people tend to categorize California according to their preconceptions of it. Interestingly, one of the reasons modern-day Californians feel proud of their residency is because of these external perceptions. The quote above speaks to the pride we feel in identifying as Californians, in “being here as long as we have.” Even if we are relatively new to the scene, as this woman was, why do we so readily incorporate ourselves into it? Nowadays, we like the “clout” that California, which is well-known for Hollywood and the ritzy Los Angeles communities filled with movie stars, gives us (even if we didn’t earn this clout ourselves). However, this also means that the California identity is intertwined with the ideas of others…this is not quite the self-sufficient attitude we once prided ourselves on. Whether we repudiate or welcome the idea of change relative to our limited personal experiences in the state, our ideals—and consequently our identities—are transitioning from the functional to the fashionable, though the underlying desire to remain somehow “separate” from, untouchable by, the rest of the nation is the same.
The glitzy and glamorous aspects tend to take center stage, and outsiders focus on them as part of the quintessential California culture. Scantily clad, blond-haired “valley girls” also stand out, and thus become another point of focus for the outsider attempting to “define” California. Popular culture has propelled this one-dimensional vision of California, with songs like The Beach Boys’ “California Girls” (The west coast has the sunshine/And the girls all get so tanned) and Katy Perry’s later version of the song. Like Patti mentioned, California is “cool” and being able to hail from the land of perpetual sunshine and beautiful women certainly boosts one’s enviable-ness. California is becoming increasingly known for these superficial factors, aspects that have nothing to do with the internal characters and ethics of the people. In a way, the out-of-staters relish these “unimportant” qualities, while the Californians themselves prefer to focus on their “hardiness” and self-sufficiency. It is frustrating hearing such one-dimensional comments about California, because they contain only a grain of truth. Yes, we live in the state where Hollywood was born, and yes, the sun does shine quite often. But we are not all a bunch of bikini and swim trunk-clad beachgoers. We also have hard workers (though not in the sense that Victor David Hansen talked about the farmers in the “golden age” of California), and we are much more heterogeneous in our value systems and pastimes than the elements that have come to characterize our state (beaches and Beverly Hills, for instance) would suggest.
The fact is that California makes much of its money from tourism and “marketing” itself efficiently. This marketing is not a new aspect—even the pioneers marketed their resilience and dedication to taming a wild land—what is new is the way that the state markets (the elements it chooses to emphasize). I dislike these elements because they encourage a “tunnel view” of California, a common set of expectations that only a few areas can meet (Hollywood and the surrounding area for stardom, etc.). Even the ads for California’s national parks, which are very beautiful and deserving of their recognition, are a form of marketing, designed to get “nature lovers” to spend their money in order to commune with the nature which is supposedly such an “integral” part of the California consciousness.
The “Golden State” is undeniably a “business”, as it was in the days when state prisons began to crop up and, years earlier, when developers started to build on the land. The method of selling the “product” has simply evolved away from the old technique of paying homage to deeper, intrinsic qualities. In this vein, Didion argues that there is no such thing in California as "change"; the original goal (the "shrewd venture" is simply redefined according to the times).
I believe, though, that there has been a change in the mindset of, and toward, California. How we identify ourselves, and the characteristics we highlight, are undeniably different.
